Twisted Fates
by Keevee
Summary: "If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Full sum****mary:**

**"If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary.**

**Sakura is appears as a normal 18 year old girl to everybody but she has many secrets as everyone sets out to rescue Cisna who was kidnapped by the Magi. Secrets that could put everyone with her at risk...**

**~x~X~x~**

**Me: Hello everyone! This is my second story. Just gonna skip the introductions and get on with the it. **

***Disclaimer: ****I do not own White Knight Chronicles.*******

* * *

><p><em>"Sometimes people can be so cruel to someone who has done nothing to deserve it, just like destiny. Sometimes you can do nothing but bear the terrible pain you feel everyday. You try your best not to show it but it's there. Always haunting you. Agonizing. Eating away at you till there's nothing left. Can't even scream to show you how I feel because of that day nine years ago. My mother died and I became a special kind of mute. No hope, no real reason to live and I have come to accept my miserable life. I know that there's no escape out of this nightmare."<em>

_-Journal entry in Sakura's diary_

~x~X~x~

I stumbled into my house, my auburn-brown hair hanged lifelessly over my weak shoulders. My chocolate brown eyes overflowed with tears. I fell to the floor shaking all over. The villagers, all of them, had once again beaten me mercilessly again. Just my normal day. Now I had even more cuts and burn marks to add to the numerous ones on my battered body already. I cried silently unable to speak. All of this was because of that terrible incident four years ago.

_**~FLASHBACK~**_

The day started out like any other day, nice and peaceful.

"Mommy!"

An eight year old Sakura ran into the house. "Mommy, I picked these for you." I held up a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers. "Oh sweetie." Floraine took the flowers and placed them in a vase. "It's wonderful, lovely, beautiful." Floraine picked me up and swung me around.

"Just like you."

"Mommy, can we go for a walk?"

"Of course my little cherry blossom."

Floraine was the mayor of this little town, loved by all and highly respected. As we walked throught the town's fair and pleasant streets, I started to feel strange, so I tugged on my mother's arm. "Mommy, my... my chest feels weird..." My eyes closed as I fell forward. "Sakura? Sakura!" Floraine caught me before I could hit the ground and carefully opened my eyes. My eyes were glazed, blank, staring at nothing. "Oh no... This can only mean..."

~x~X~x~

I opened my eyes and found myself in a strange, dark place. I looked around and realized that I was in a castle, I spotted three figures in the room. Carefully, I made my way over and stood next to the closet one, who was a girl. The girl had blue eyes and brownish-blonde hair, she looked like she was eight and was the same height as me. She was wearing a formal pink dress, she kind of looked like myself but she had a frightened expression.

I followed her gaze and gasped. There was my mother get stabbed through the heart by a man in black armor. Floraine slumped to the floor dying. Me and the girl were petrified, trembling at the sight. The man got ready to kill us, he got behind us and swung his sword. It missed the girl but hit me on the neck, a small jagged mark, not a huge cut for me to die from blood loss but enough blood came out.

The doors to the room burst open and two men ran in. The man in the armor, forced to retreat, jumped out the window. I felt myself hit the floor, and slowly closed my eyes.

When I opened them again I saw the pained face of my mother. I sat up and saw the wound in my mother's chest, it was the same spot where the man hit her earlier. Floraine fell to her knees, blood gushing from the wound, struggling to take breaths. All of the townspeople who came a few minutes earlier to see what the commotion was about, and me watched in terror as her mother died.

"Please take care of Sakura...I wish for her to live."

That was my mother's dying words. I sobbed silently, covered in my mother's and my own blood, wishing for Floraine to come back.

"The-the mayor is dead!" a man cried out in shock.

"How did this happen?" a woman shrieked.

"What could have caused this?" another woman shouted.

"It was because of her!" a man pointed at me, "She's a curse! She killed Floraine!"

All the townspeople agreed that it was my fault and started to advance on me. After a few minutes they were all torturing me. One forced me to stand up, while most of the rest punched and kicked. Then one ugly, burly man came up with a bat and smirked evilly, he raised his bat and brought it down an my arm breaking it. They continued to do this, even holding my hands and arms over fire.

Soon everyone left except one woman, her name was Kila. She hated me but she heard my mother's last words, so she reluctantly promised to take care of me. Kila dragged me broken body to my house then wrapped up my body in bandages. After that day I was bedridden and unconscious for eight months.

**~End Of Flashback~**

I lifted my tired arm to touch my red and blue necklace that mother gave me and sighed. After a moment I felt around for the locket I had, it was a beautiful light blue color and helped me calm down a bit. It was a gift that I would forever treasure since it came from _him._

* * *

><p><strong>Me: So what'd ya think? My first story about a game. I hope it goes well.<strong>

**R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

**Full sum****mary:**

**"If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary.**

**Sakura is appears as a normal 18 year old girl to everybody but she has many secrets as everyone sets out to rescue Cisna who was kidnapped by the Magi. Secrets that could put everyone with her at risk...**

**~x~X~x~**

***Disclaimer: ****I do not own White Knight Chronicles.*******

* * *

><p><em>"<em>The trouble starts now. But...h<em>ow much faith can you have on your most important person? If you even have one.<em>_"_

_-Journal entry in Sakura's diary_

~x~X~x~

Sakura woke up the next morning in her bed, somehow she managed to crawl into it. She moved her injured arm testing the joints; it was stiff and it ached but movable enough nonetheless. Sakura stood up, causing pain to shoot up her body, but chose ignored it. She slowly made her way out of the bedroom.

_'Maybe one of these days one of them will finally try to kill me. I wouldn't be too shocked. Heck, I'm surprised that they haven't yet.'_ she mused as she packed a backpack.

Picking up a good-sized backpack, she placed basic essential things such as food, water, clothing in. Then she added other stuff like: a lot of money (her mother always seemed to have a lot of money, Sakura still wondered as to why she had it to this day), tooth brush, hair brush, a family portrait, a special capsule box, a few books, her special journal, and her ocarina.

The ocarina was the only thing other than the necklace that her mother gave her. It was small with blue and white coloration, yet played the most beautiful sound you'd ever hear.

_'One of these days something will happen, I can sense it. Most likely tomorrow or even tonight...'_ Sakura thought as she walked out the door. She stealthily made her way to the forest avoiding being seen by any villagers that might have been up and began running.

It was 2:00 AM when she left the house being gone fore fifteen hours for uh, _special_ training before she snuck back to her house. She walked into the library that took up more than half the house filled with books.

Over the years, other than training and trying to survive, she had read every book and memorized them. Sakura made her way to the 'W' section and reached up on a tall shelf, she pulled down a book called _'Wind in the Willows'. _The reason she took that book was because it was her mother's favorite book, somehow she managed to fit it into her already full backpack.

Call it an intuition or a sixth sense but Sakura knew something was going to happen. She slung the heavy bag over her shoulder and sat on the couch, waiting.

She was right, it was around 7:35 when the mob of angry villagers gathered outside her house. A moment later Sakura smelled smoke as if something was burning. She whipped her head around in the direction of the smell, the door was on fire and the flames were spreading like a wildfire.

_'So! They're burning down my house, trying to kill me by burning me alive.'_ The fire had already engulfed the wall in front of her. 'The cruel jerks. Hn. Well I for obvious reasons can't use the front door or windows. I guess the only way left is out through the back door.' Sakura was by now surrounded by flames, she made a mad dash for the door and jumped.

The fires seemed to rise up as if they wanted to suck her into the pits of hell. She shouldered her way to the burning door and ran to the woods. From the safety of the trees Sakura sadly watched as the house she grew up in burn down to the ground, knowing that this was going to happen eventually.

As she walked away from the charred remains of what used to be her home she glared at the cheering villagers. They even had the nerve to jump up and down in joy on the ashes. _'I will be back, mark my words.'_

Seven years had passed since she was forced to leave her village, Sakura was currently walking across some plains. She had been travelling and had taken countless jobs over this span of time. Although there was one kind of job she hated and had to do once.

Assassination.

_**~FLASHBACK~**_

Sakura, fifteen years old, had just been given a job to get a man dead or alive. The people who gave the request didn't say that it was assassination but it was pretty clear that they did. A blind man could tell.

One big give away was the instructions of how they wanted him brought in and even gave her deadly poison. All she had to do was put it in his drink, lead him to a secluded place, wait for him to get the poisoned beverage in his body and let it circulate, then bring the body back.

So now here Sakura, was in a pretty fancy dress provided by the people who hired her, walking to the entrance of a huge elegant house. She presented her invitation, which was also provided, and walked through the door.

Everyone who came to this big party was required to take a picture. Why? Sakura probably wouldn't ever know but didn't care in the least, so in order not to look suspicious she took one too. When she looked it over after she got it she sighed, it seemed good actually.

Sakura had stood up straight in her simple but beautiful white gown, her dark hair, almost contrasting the dress, flowed down to her waist. She had looked with a straight face at the camera, her eyes showing no emotion.

Sighing again, she gently placed the photograph in her small dress pocket.

A fairly good looking man in a dark suit came up to her and proposed to get her a drink, she shook her head then instead offered to get him one.

The man agreed and Sakura walked with the grace of royalty to the drinks, she almost smirked.

_'So that's the man I have to kill. Huh... I can't believe he thought I looked old enough to drink.'_ she arrived at the table and looked at the bowl of dark liquid. _'Should get out the poison.'_

She carefully poured a glass of wine, while she made sure no one saw her put the poison she idly wondered whether it was weird that the lady got the man the drink instead of the other way around.

Giving the glass to the man and leading him to a secluded place outside, she watched with a mask of indifference as he drank the poisoned blood red substance and nearly instantly started choking on it.

A minute later the man collapsed into a heap on the grass, dead. She felt very close to scoffing but remained silent as she hauled his body onto a wagon.

Within the hour she reached the cabin she was told to go to and dragged the body inside. She waited until they handed her the pay then left without sparing a second glance back.

**~End Of Flashback~**

It had reminded her to much of a past she wanted with all her might to forget.

Sakura felt like she could laugh when she remembered that she hadn't returned the dress and still had it and the picture. Shaking her head to get the images out of her mind, Sakura looked up at the sky.

_'Damn. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice.'_

Shrugging off her backpack and pulling out the special capsule box, she took a numbered capsule, pushed the button then threw it and stood back.

It had a numerous amount of rooms inside it's beautiful mahogany walls; Sakura never really remembered why she built so many though but she had felt like she would need them later.

She had taking her time building this over the the nine years after her mother died. Spending countless hours inventing 20 different capsules, she only used 15, saving five to be used for something else.

The brunette spent the night in the house, she slept for only three hours before her internal clock woke her up at the crack of dawn. Sakura put the house back in it's capsule form and walked to the top of a nearby green hill.

Surveying her surroundings, she took in the beauty of the plains. Breathing in and seating on the soft green grass, Sakura growled, scowling as she gripped her skirt. _'Why does this place feel so happy? It's almost sickening.'_

Pulling out her ocarina, she played a few notes before executing a song filled with sadness and sorrow as she did every morning, in remembrance of her dear mother. The woman had been all she had, before she went and died.

Finishing that she opened up a map and looked it over once more. 'Let's see... I'm in Balastor Plains so I have to continue north to the Kingdom of Balandor.' After a long, somewhat tiring, trek across the sea of green, the teenager finally reached Balandor.

She gazed up at the gates, then at the people filing through them so freely. She walked right past the guards who didn't even spare her a glance. She glared at them in disdain. It was certainly comforting to know that they had such a _great_ security force always on guard. She scoffed. Amateurs. Anyone remotely close to her skill could sneak in with minimal effort and no suspicion, without breaking a sweat.

She glance around the bustling town. For now, first things first, she needed a job. Didn't care what it was, as long as it wasn't degrading to her. She wandered around, the streets looking at any shop with a help wanted sign in it. The only that she deemed somewhat bearable was this store called 'Rappaci's Wines' or whatever. She pushed open the door and looked in.

The man-thing behind the counter was shining something, that was until she opened the door. "Welcome to Rappaci Wines. What can I do for ya?"

The dude didn't seem to pleased at the moment, it was more of irritation, sounds like. She stood at the counter, and cleared her throat. She hadn't used her voice in a long time, and generally preferred not to but found a way to quietly speak for a limited time.

"Um, I'm looking for a job here." she squeaked, faking the meekness.

Rappacci looked her over form doubtfully. "What can you do?"

Sakura silently bristled, feeling insulted. He honestly didn't think she could handle this little job! Her chocolate eyes narrowed. "I assure you, I can handle _anything._ Even fighting."

Oh ho, she could do a lot more than just fighting, but he didn't need to know that. She still caught that look she hated, but calmed down a little when he gave her the job. "You're hired. Now the first thing you can do is..."

Soon enough Sakura was neatly stacking boxes full of wine (efficiently to say the least) while waiting for a person who she was supposed to work with. He was late. In fact, he was twenty minutes late, and Rapacci wasn't looking happy.

The shop door opened and Rappacci quickly looked over to see who it was, he seemed quite angry when he saw the boy that walked in. He looked like he was eighteen, he had orange hair that looked like it was orange-light brown and light blue eyes. His hair was sort of spiky and the rest of it was in a out of place ponytail.

"Dammit, Leonard!" Rapacci yelled.

"Whoa!" the boy exclaimed, taking a step back.

"Where the hell have you been? You better not have forgotten what today is!"

"Yeah I know." Leonard answered. 'Today is the Princess's ball. She's introduced to society, we step into the big time, got it."

"This is a momentous day for Rapacci Wines. The court picked _us _to supply wine for a party at the castle!' Rapacci said, seeming to gaze at nothing as if he was remembering something. "We gotta do it right and earn a bona fide royal commendation! Ah, I've worked my fingers to the bone to guess this far..."

"Look, I'll leave for the Parma winery now, and I'll still be back with time to spare." Leonard stated thinking it would calm him down only for it to backfire on him as Rapacci glared at him again.

"You better." he said before moving round from behind his desk and towards Leonard. "I rented a Beastwain at the village for you. Use it ta cart the wine back here like your life depends on it." He waved a clenched fist threateningly at Leonard. 'Cause it does'

"All...all right!" Leonard replied, gulping, taking a step back, hands up.

"And while you're at it, that's the new gal. Take her with you." He added, jerking his chin Sakura who had watched the whole spectacle with next to nothing interest.

Sakura bowed in polite courtesy when the attention was on her. Leonard walked over to her and extended his hand. "Hi there, I'm Leonard." he greeted.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, this was the first time in years since anyone spoke to her without looking like they were ready to kill her. His smile was actually very warm and gentle. She cautiously extended her hand and was about to shake his when a goblet zoomed through the air, it clonked Leonard right on the back of the head with a dull thunk sound. "Ow!" he cried.

Rapacci glared at them. "Just get your butts moving!" he growled. "You can talk on the road!"

Leonard was rubbing the spot where the cup landed, "All right, gods…" Leonard muttered something else before he led Sakura outside, he looked over a paper that Rapacci had given him.

"Let's see…we have to fetch barrels from the Parma warehouse using the Beastwaine." he sighed. "Boy, that is a lot of work! Well let's get going."

As they walked to the south gate, Leonard was talking to Sakura, who just listened and nodded but couldn't answer of course, when a man in a tattered travelling cloak walked past them, going in the other direction. The man was carrying what looked like a giant wrapped sword, he glanced at Leonard as he passed by.

Leonard turned his gaze towards the man and was slightly surprised to see him looking back as if studying him for a moment before looking down again. Leonard watched the man as he continued to walk away. "Weird…" Leonard shook his head and turned around and started walking again to catch up with Sakura.

People ran past them to see something, murmurs of excitement was ripping through the huge crowd gathering, festive music could be heard. Leonard and Sakura joined them, Leonard was craning his neck to see. "Hey, look."

Two huge lizard-like beasts pulled what looked like a huge circus tent or a theatre on wheels, a short announcer in a red, white and gold uniform, with a blue top hat, a thin, wiry mustache and a red clown nose spoke through a what looked like a bullhorn. "Ladies and gentleman!" the short man started, "Young and old of Balandor! In honor of Her Highness's coming-of-age day, I give you wonders aplenty and sights unlike any! Step right up, the Marcus Revelers have arrived!"

The clowns and acrobats performed tricks and waved, like flipping and cartwheeling, making the crowd cheer. "I've never seen a circus!" Leonard stated as he and Sakura watched with the crowd, "This is going to be some party!"

_'The aura from the circus feels...evil. Scratch that, I mean really evil, I don't like it.'_ Sakura thought as she watched through narrowed eyes.

After another moment they turned and continued walking to the south gate, Leonard started talking to Sakura again, who in turn listened and nodded.

**~Right outside the kingdom of Balandor and in Balastor Plains...~**

Leonard stopped walking and pointed in a direction. "The village of Parma is due south of here, pretty simple. There's not much to it, but it's a nice enough place."

He turned to look at Sakura, "Say, uh, you're new to Balandor, aren't you?" Sakura just nodded. "Then why don't I show you the sights along the way? Sound good? Just keep a look out for monsters. We're in the wild now."

Sakura resisted hard against the urge to snort. No shit, Sherlock.

She instead turned her attention to the rolling waves of green that occasionally sparkled in the sunlight.

On the way to Parma they fought some monsters like Vespids, Polkans and Kibbles. But when they weren't fighting Leonard was her beautiful things. At one point at a river bridge, he showed her a small waterfall._ 'Hmm…'_ mused Sakura,_ 'That waterfall… I feel like…I've been here before.'_

**~Flashback~**

_"And here's the waterfall!" a seven year old boy led a seven year old Sakura to the small waterfall. "Wow!" exclaimed the young Sakura, reaching out to touch the water's surface. "Balastor Plains are so beautiful." The boy laughed, he had light blue eyes and orange hair that was so familiar it was scary. Young Sakura sighed, almost sadly as she withdrew her hand and looked at her friend._

_"I wish that I could stay here longer…"_

_"What do you mean? Of course you can stay here longer."_

_"I have until the end of the day."_

_"But you're so much…fun to be with."_

_The boy's head drooped, but the warm hug that Sakura gave him surprised him to no end. Now he was upset and confused._

_"It's okay, you're fun to be with too, but I have no choice but to go." Sakura looked at the sun, which was setting. "In fact, I only have a few more minutes…"_

_"What? But…but…"_

_"It's okay, I promise that one day I'll come back."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

_The boy seemed a bit happier now and smiled a bit. "Well…before you go, you can have this to remember me by."_

_He handed her a beautiful locket that was the color of his eyes, she opened it and saw a picture for herself and him. "Oh thank you so much, it's beautiful!" Sakura tied the locket around her neck. White orbs of light started to rise from her body, it was almost nighttime, only thirty seconds left. The orbs were small but steadily grew bigger and bigger._

_"Good-bye." The boy gave her one last hug before she disappeared, Sakura hugged the boy back._

_"Good-bye, I'll never forget you… Leonard…"_

**~End Of Flashback~**

Sakura snapped open her eyes and made a sound like a gasp, hearing this Leonard turned around. "What's wrong?" Sakura shook her head and gestured that nothing was wrong. Leonard shrugged, he turned around again and continued his job as a tour guide.

Right after he turned around, Sakura quickly pulled out her notebook. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. A very detailed hand drawn picture of seven-year-old Leonard. Sakura quickly put the notebook back and grabbed her locket, she opened it and looked at the pictures of her and Leonard.

'I was right... The boy I met years ago, the boy that gave me this locket, the boy who I fell in love with... It was Leonard!'

~x~X~x~

The rest of the trip to Parma took only about an hour to make. Sakura had most of her mind on the memory from earlier but continued to listen to Leonard talk about the sights, nodding every now and then to make it seem as if she cared. After running into a swarm of vespids that were swiftly cut down they made it to their destination.

"Here we are. Welcome to Parma."

"Hey!" a voice called from behind "You're on time for once."

It was a girl about their age with purple hair and grey blue eyes.

"Yulie!"

Yulie walked towards them "How've you been there, Leonard?" Yulie looked over Sakura, taking a moment to study her. "Oh! You must be the new girl. Rapacci told me you were coming. Glad you can make it. The wine's all set to go. Follow me."

They approached a big cow like beast. Sakura and Leonard's jaws dropped open a bit. "You _must_ be kidding." Leonard managed to say when he could speak again.

Yulie walked up from behind them "Don't let his looks fool you. He's a big old pussycat." Yulie assured them and patted the huge creatures neck.

She then placed her hands on her hips and looked around as if searching for something. "Now… Where…?" She looked down in disappointment "Raus said he'd be here."

"Who?" Leonard asked.

"Your driver. Raus is the only one who can get this fella to pull the wain; It won't move a step, not without Raus's say-so." Yulie sighed, "Sit tight, I'll see if I can find him."

Yulie started to walk away into the village, Leonard took a step after her. "But…Yulie!" he called out but she already disappeared from view.

Sakura and Leonard followed Yulie around, watching her ask people if they've seen Raus. Eventually their search led them to the horse stables. Raus was snoozing at a tree stump with bottles of what looked like wine. Yulie spotted Raus sleeping

"Ah ha! Raus, you oaf!" Yulie yelled, Raus woke up startled. "Ohh, dear me! Did I doze off again?"

Yulie grabbed the back off his shirt collar, lifted him up and shook him angrily. "This is were you were hiding? I told you not to be late!" She released Raus, allowing him to drop to the ground. Raus quickly got up and hid behind Leonard.

"Please don't be mad, Miss Yulie! I am so sorry." Raus whimpered, scared. As they walked through the village Raus hid behind Leonard the whole way there as if he could protect him from Yulie's wrath.

They hooked up the wain to the cow looking beast, and Raus crawled into the driver's seat, Yulie patted the wagon when they finished. "There! Now you're all set." Leonard glanced up at the slowly darkening sky. By that time, the sun had already begun to sink behind the mountains covering the village and clouds in an orange-gold light.

"Boy, it's starting to get dark. We'd better haul cask."

"Okay, Leonard, like I mentioned before, _Raus_ here will be driving the beastwain." Yulie explained.

Raus giggled nervously at the glare he received from Yulie. "Hello, Happy to assist, Chief." Raus said to them before adding in alower voice. "By the way, if I happen to doze off…again…kindly wake me up before this beastie remembers I forgot to feed it breakfast and turns me into a late lunch!"

Leonard and Sakura just stared at Raus in disbelief. "Uh…huh."

Yulie glanced at Leonard. "He's kind of weird, but he gets the job done." She said seeing the look then saying cheerfully. "Off we go!"

Yulie started to walked towards the entrance. It took Leonard a moment to process what she just said. "_We_? You're coming too?"

"Well, yeah! I wouldn't miss this party for the world! What? You don't want the extra help? Come on, we're late as it is!" Yulie continued to walk to the entrance.

Sakura and Leonard looked at each other before Leonard sighed.

Leonard stopped walking and signaled for Yulie and Sakura to stop. "Wait, something's wrong."

Yulie and Sakura stopped and looked around. "What is it?"

Raus stopped the beastwaine "What's wrong, Chief?"

Leonard closed his eyes, "You don't hear that?" He opened them and allowed them to roam their surroundings. Suddenly they all stopped and listened, birds flew off away from the way they were going. Sure enough there was a stomping that sounding like it was coming closer. A huge troll came into view round from behind a cliff face towards them, a heavy looking stone club held in one hand. It growled then charged for the beastwaine.

"Dammit! It must have smelled the wine!" Leonard reasoned.

"Oh, no! What do we do, Chief?"

"We fight!"

"Yeah!"

They all braced themselves for the oncoming troll. Sakura pulled out a sword and held it in front of her. She got into a fighting stance. It's time for a release.

...

The troll fell down with a mighty crash, the dust in the air began to settle around it.

"Well we survived." Yulie walked up next to Leonard then inspected their cargo load. "And it looks like the wine is okay, too."

"Nice going, Chief! I thought I'd napped my last nap for sure!"

"Nah. The three of us can handle one little troll. It's Rapacci I'm scared of. Let's move!"

"Right!" Yulie cheered happily as they all continued on their way.

* * *

><p><strong>Done. Actually this has been for a while now, I just couldn't get around to posting it. And the capsules in my story, don't question them. They serve a purpose. *Sigh* Well ciao.<strong>

**R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**Full sum****mary:**

**"If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary.**

**Sakura is appears as a normal 18 year old girl to everybody but she has many secrets as everyone sets out to rescue Cisna who was kidnapped by the Magi. Secrets that could put everyone with her at risk...**

**~x~X~x~**

***Disclaimer: ****I do not own White Knight Chronicles.*******

* * *

><p><em>The last page of the fairytale story is rewritten, changed into a tragedy. <em>_Even the heart of the only person who believed is lost,_ _as if love and dreams were nothing more than a sandcastle, __fragile, short-lived, empty, broken, deceased. I never wished for that._

_-Journal entry in Sakura's diary_

~x~X~x~

~Sakura's POV~

When we reached Balandor, We all noticed that the streets were empty. It was as it was a ghost town, the only sounds to be heard were the loud creaking of the wagon's wheels and the faint sound of festival music coming from further ahead.

"Oh man," Leonard moaned. "It's way past dark. I told Rapacci we'd be back _before_ dark. I am dead."

"Well moaning about it isn't going to speed us up," Yulie chimed in as she walked past him. Yeah, of course it didn't speed us up. It wasn't like we were going really fast or making a lot of progress anyway. Raus sniffled, "My sincerest apologies, Chief."

I could understand why he sounded guilty. It _was _his fault for us being late in the first place.

The cow like beast made a tired moaning sound, Leonard patted the beast's side, "Are you tired? We're almost there, buddy." Leonard slowly stopped walking and watched the slow pace being made, he went around to the back of the wagon full of wine and started to push and grunt in an effort to hurry things up. Sakura and Yulie both looked at each other before getting beside Leonard and pushing as well.

In town square, there was the Marcus Revelers. They hadn't seemed to have stopped entertaining the population of townsfolk. As we passed by, I could see the same acrobats from before either jumping around performing somersaults or twirling flaming batons in one hand before tossing them into the air and catching them again as if it was nothing.

"Look, something's going on!" Yulie exclaimed excitedly.

"Ooh! I just love festivities!" Raus said also excited.

"'Wonders aplenty and sights unlike any,'" Leonard recalled what the short man said earlier. "Sorry, folks. The castle delivery comes first." Yulie hung her head in disappointment, having been eager to watch the show. I glanced at the circus frowning before continuing to the castle. In front of the drawbridge, there were two guards at the gate.

"Who are you, then?" the one of left said. Leonard walked to the front while Yulie and I stood behind him plastering fake smiles on our faces.

"Rapacci Wines, sir. We're here to deliver tonight's wine," Leonard said. Yulie and Leonard bowed, but I didn't even bother to do so, why should I when they mean nothing to me and I was of higher stature. I could've easily kill them right here with my crazy life experience.

"Alright, we've been expecting you..." the same one on the left said, "though you were supposed to be here hours ago."

"Where the hell have you been?" the other one on the right said. "Merchants shouldn't keep the castle waiting!"

"Well, you see," Leonard started to say, "we were attacked by a monster on the way to the warehouse and—"

"Stuff the excuses and get that wine inside now!" the guard on the right snapped. Sakura walked to the front next to Leonard and glared at the guards. In her mind she forced herself, though receiving and ignoring the tremendous pain, and made a mental connection to the two idiots.

'**Guards, my friend is not lying. You both, as gate guards, should know enouth that there are lots of monsters out there in the wild. One, namely a troll, attacked us and held us back costing us time. We had to fight it off so that we could get here in one piece**.' I thought with anger and annoyance. The guards quickly lowered their heads in front of me. I was pretty sure it was out of fear and respect, hn, maybe they weren't _too_ stupid.

To everyone else of course, it appeared to them that she was only glaring at them.

"Of course! W-we are sorry for our rude behavior." the one on the left stuttered. "Please forgive us." the one on the right said, then they stood back up. "You may enter."

"Yes, sir!" Yulie came forward, "We at Rapacci wines look forward to serving you again!" They all bowed except for me and started to walk forward again. Once they got through the gate Yulie scowled in anger with her arms folded across her chest. "Jerks! Have a heart! Sure I'll serve the again..." she muttered in a sweet mocking tone. "if it's a boot in the face!"

Yulie then glanced at me. "Why'd they do that for? I mean, they practically bowed down to you as if they were scared." I just shrugged, pretending that I had no clue. They led the beastwain across the drawbridge and in front of the stairs there were three ladies waiting.

"Good evening ma'am," Leonard said politely. "Here's your wine order."

"Thank you, lad. This will do fine," the oldest of the three woman said.

"Right, we'll be off then..." he said. They started to walk away, but Leonard stopped, turned around and started walking toward the castle. Interesting. Even though we shouldn't have Yulie and I followed him to the castle's doors.

"Woah! What are you doing?" Yulie whispered angrily. "You can't go in there!"

He smiled at her. "What's wrong with one quick peek?"

Yulie was starting to cave in so she looked at me expectantly for help. "Sakura, do something! We know we can't go in!"

I turned my head away so that Yulie couldn't see my face. People after all would think that it would be kinda creepy if you spoke with moving your mouth. 'I think we're going to be okay.' After all, I was a Princess, a powerful fighter and Cisna's sister, they couldn't touch me. On the other hand, if they did they'd quickly regret it.

Inside the ball was really a beautiful sight. People everywhere were dancing in happiness and joy. All of them looked rich, seeing as their formal attire looked expensive. Most, if not all, nobles must have been invited. We looked around, and walked to the side where no one could see us commoners, the poor, poor commoners. After a few minutes passed, the music stopped.

At the staircase, I saw Cisna walking down with her two ugly and annoying hand maids. Cisna looked beautiful, that much could be said. King Valtos, on his throne, and everyone in the room turned their heads to watch her approach. She stepped forword, took a breath, and faced her people. Everyone was whispering and muttering.

I noticed Leonard staring at Cisna with a certain look in his eyes, she heard his thoughts . 'Hey... That's her the princess!'. Then a memory played in his mind and I watched quietly. Yulie, all of a sudden, put her arms on Leonard's crouched form and pushed his head down.

"Leonard. What are you doing?" she asked, curious. Yulie followed his gaze to the princess and frowned. "Hmm...It's rude to stare at royalty, you know." I sighed, Yulie interrupted the memory. I decided to see what was going on with the so-called circus. I cast my mind out to a person who was standing in the crowd watching the circus.

The circus clowns were _still_ preforming tricks. She saw the short man pull on his thin mustache and glance at the castle. I noticed that the party seemed to be in high gear, heck, even the guards were slacking off.

"Time to blow them away." The short man declared as he threw off his disguise. "Enough of this charade! It's showtime!" The tent exploded causing people to duck as burnt wooden planks flew everywhere. The form of a huge monster with a mask, vents all over it's body and two chandeliers on it's head, and not to mention a big turret cannon on it's back. emerged from the rubble and smoke and started stomping around, spewing fire and killing screaming people in the process.

Chandelier monster roared, frightening the people who already started to run. Soldiers clad in silver-black armor filed out of what was left of the bottom of the circus tent and started to kill people. I lost connection with the person I was connected with, good chance that he was killed too. This was getting serious and I had a feeling that chandelier monster would be paying everyone here a visit soon.

"My noble friends," Valtos started to say. Everyone stopped whispering as they listened to Valtos give his speech, though it was strange that everyone had a goblet in their hand. "I thank you all for coming to celebrate this special day with my daughter. How proud the late queen would be. It has been ten years since my beloved wife was lost to me." I glared at Valtos. He just _had_ to do that, didn't he?

"Today," Valtos continued, "the daughter she gave me, my dearest Cisna, celebrates her eighteenth birthday. The kindness you have shown her has made this day possible. For that you have my deepest gratitude. Please enjoy this evening's festivities. Glory to Balandor!" He raised his goblet high into the air.

"Glory to Balandor!" the filthy rich guests repeated after him, following suit, raising their goblets. The music started again and the people started dancing with one another again. Valtos was chuckling for what seemed like no apparent reason, while Cisna sighed.

"That's weird…" Leonard stared at Cisna. "Doesn't she look kind of sad to you?"

"You think so? Well, you know...They say she hasn't spoken for ten whole years. Not since the queen was killed..." Yulie had helped herself a plate of cake while everyone was listening to the king give his speech. "you know, when Faria attacked the castle."

"Cisna saw that?"

Right after that statement and I mean literally _right _after that statement, I felt the same evil aura I felt when I was near the circus approaching. And fast, very fast. A castle gate guard came stumbling through the castle's doors. The crowd parted and gasped as they saw the man struggled to reach the king, who was frowning at the disturbance, limping and gasping towards him while blood flowed from a wound.

"Y-you're Grace, a message!" he said desperately, struggling to catch breaths. The king didn't look too happy.

"This is a celebration! What the devil is it?" Valtos said annoyed. He cared more about the celebration than an urgent message? An urgent message that was very important? What an idiot! Was this seriously the king?

"The town! A terrible monster has attacked, killing...!"

"A monster?"

The huge chandelier monster burst in, the doors were blasted from its frame, the same that the soldier came through. _'That monster, it's a _Pyredaemos_? But what's it doing here!'_ I thought, finally getting a crystal clear view of the beast.

Dozens of the enemy soldiers rushed in through the gaping hole in the wall. Sir Cyrus and his soldiers drew out their swords ran to confront of the Magi. "Don't let them any closer to the king! Attack!" They started clashing swords, Cyrus fought fiercely. "No! Stand your ground! Your king and castle need you!" As some of the pillars began to crumble and fall, the castle started to crumble along with it.

"Cisna! Quickly, this way!" Valtos commanded. Cisna followed our father up the stairs. "Hurry! Quickly!" Before they even reached halfway up, there was a man in iron black armor with a curved sword coming down the stairs, blocking their path. Valtos glared at the man defiantly. "How did you..." The man in black armor just stabbed Valtos through his heart with his sword as if it were butter.

"Father...No…!" Cisna screamed, she quickly ran to Valtos and knelt beside his dying body. "Father, please! Please don't die!"

"Ah, Cisna…" Valtos whispered in a weak voice. "At...last I hear your voice again...How I have missed, missed the sound of it…

"Father!"

"Go...you must. My...beautiful daughter…"

"No, I won't leave you! I don't want to be alone!" Cisna sobbed. "Please...Father...NO!" I was pretty sad myself. I felt my anger spike and flare at the sight of my dead father. The clad in black armor got ready to kill Cisna, I got ready to protect her myself. Just before he was about to strike, Leonard appeared out of nowhere and stopped the man from killing Cisna by blocking with his sword.

"Princess! This way!" Leonard quickly grabbed Cisna's hand and ran down the stairs. I quickly and silently followed behind them like a shadow. They never noticed me.

"FATHER!" Cisna shrieked trying to back to her dead father.

"Come on, we have to go, or they'll kill you!"

"B-but…my father!"

"Quick, this way!"

Leonard quickly looked around and saw the same man we saw in the iron black armor who just killed the king moments ago before now issuing commands to his troops. I was a bit confused now. I swear saw him go up the stairs, but somehow he was now downstairs. My instincts turned on. The man in front of us now must be a different person. This guy felt different than the on one the stairs. Well, then when I realized it, the person at the stairs didn't feel like he had life. He could block me! The bastard!

"This way." We continued running while Leonard killed the Magi in our way.

Eventually, Cisna either tripped on her dress or fell from fatigue and collapsed on the ground. Leonard knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Come on. I won't let them get you. Not you."

Cisna looked up at Leonard with sad, desperate eyes. "Who are you?" she whimpered

"I'm Leonard."

"Why did you…?"

"Well…" It took Leonard a moment before he continued. "It's just, I care about you, you know?"

"What?"

He realized what he said and faintly blushed, quickly stepped away as he amended himself, backpedaling on what his remark.

"Uh, I mean...we all do...care about you, I mean. Your kingdom loves and needs you."

Cisna's expression, which had looked startled when he first spoke, changed into one of determination as she allowed Leonard to help her to her feet. They stared into each others eyes until their moment was ruined when a pillar collasped. A sudden roar emitting from said that the Pyredaemos was getting closer. It appeared around the corner and roared again.

"Are you survivors?" an unfamiliar voice asked from a side passage entrance. We all turned and saw an old man with a sword, he pointed to huge doors. "This way! To the cellars." Leonard took Cisna's hand and started to run. "Let's go!"

**~Beneath Balandor~**

We had found ourselves in the underneath Balandor in the old catacombs and were currently making their way further down.

"This is like a castle under the castle." Leonard exclaimed as he looked about.

Parts of the stairs were destroyed, leaving holes that dropped into what seemed like an abyss from this point of view. There were waterfalls that flowed down from even larger holes. I might've said it was beautiful if we weren't in our current prediciment, the two panted as we ran down the stairs.

Cisna just nodded quietly clearly still distraught about what had just happened to her father and his Kingdom, although now it was _her_ Kingdom.

'Come on, we have to move!' Leonard urged.

"No, not this way!" Cisna said worried.

"Sorry, but we don't have a choice!" Leonard argued. Cisna said nothing back. Gradually, we went deeper and deeper until we stopped in front of the treasure vault.

"What's this?" Leonard asked.

"I think...it's the-" Cisna

"The treasure vault." I finished, coming forth from the shadows. I decided that it was worth it to speak now even though what I was going to endure later for it would hurt. "Something doesn't feel too right about it."

The two spun around and gasped when they saw me. "Sakura? How did you get here?"

I stared at them. The girl was the princess, Cisna, right? How come she spoke as if she knew me? After some more careful scrutiny it clicked. Cisna, no wonder she looked familiar. Wow, never thought I'd see her again. She had been- Wait... Hadn't we been running from a monster?

Right before we entered the treasure vault a loud crash behind us caused us to freeze up. We didn't even have to look round to realise that the monster had found a way down here and was now charging at us with a roar. "Uh-oh! Company!"

The three of us ran into the treasure vault. Unfortunately for us, we were blasted by the Pyredaemos's very dramatic running entrance into the vault. I have no how long we were on the ground, but I guess it was a few seconds. Cisna was lying down on Leonard on top of Leonard on his chest. I pushed myself up and looked at the thing in front of me. My eyes widened.

_'Oh my god…Is that…'_ My thought trailed off as I stared at the huge body suit of armor.

"What's that?" Leonard asked staring and pointing at the White Knight.

Attached to the wall by many sturdy chains, was the huge suit of armour stood as if at attention. The armoured plating was a pure snow white with a clear gold trim and a royal blue cape could be seen hanging from its shoulders.

"We found this armor…" Cisna started explaining, "seventeen years ago, after the Cataclysm. No one knows where it came from, but our scholars think this is something made by the Ancients.

"Those Ancients must've been pretty tall," Leonard stated looking the armor up and down.

"That is an Incorruptus."

"What?" Leonard looked at the same man from earlier, who walked out from behind a pillar, confused.

"A weapon of war, crafted by an ancient race. It is an awesome, cursed power..." the man explained.

"A weapon?" Leonard wondered out loud

"The castle's raiders are after this. They seek a holy relic known as the Ark, the key to the Incorruptus's power," the old man continued, pointing at a pedestal. A white gauntlet with a strange glyph near the elbow joint and a what appeared to be a ceremonial dagger was displayed.

"Ark…?" Leonard looked even more confused now. The Pyredaemos, who was under the rubble of the door, destroyed the debris with it's cannon and came into the vault.

"It's back!" Leonard yelled.

"Wonderful." the old man muttered dryly.

"Dammit!" Leonard cursed before he ran up to the Ark.

"What are you doing?" the old man yelled in disbelief.

"Fighting! You said it was a weapon, right? Well, right now seems like a damn good time to use it!"

Cisna's body slighty jerked and she started to glow blue. She clasped her hands together and started to be chant something in a ancient language.

"Fool! Stay away from it if you want to live! Only the worthy are permitted to touch that!"

"Maybe so." Leonard grabbed the Ark, "But if I don't, we're all dead anyway!"

"You mustn't!"

Leonard ignored the old man and placed the Ark on his left hand. It started to shake and beams of light shot out from it, Leonard had a pale blue aura surrounding him. I glanced at Cisna, she was still glowing and now kneeling on the ground chanting. The beams of light faded after a few seconds, and the glow died around Leonard. The blue glow around Cisna died too and she stopped talking.

"Wh-what happened?" Leonard analyzed the Ark on his hand.

"He's alive? I don't believe it. Could he really be one of the worthy?" Eldore stared at Leonard with amazement.

The Pyredaemos was stomping in the vault coming closer. Leonard turned around to face the beast. He started chanting in an echoed voice.

_O Wizel, white warrior, wielder of the ancient sword…_

The Pyredaemos raised it's foot. "Watch out!" Cisna cried a second too late, It slammed his foot right on Leonard. "No…!" The Pyredaemos attacked the White Knight's armor to destroy the chains that kept it in place. It rammed into the armor again causing it to fall from the wall and the monster placed its foot on it to secure it, not making a dent, then turned to us. As if sensing a threat, the creature looked to its left where Leonard was now standing, the dagger in his right hand.

_…grant me your power._

Leonard flipped the dagger so that it was in the reverse hold, he placed it on the gauntlet causing plate with the glyph to split in two down the middle while an enlarged image of the glyph appeared before him.

_Verto._

The Knight's armor shined a bright blue forcing the Pyredaemos to stagger back. A dark blue mist with threads of light surrounded him, the floor around him changed into stained glass. When the mist cleared, in Leonard's place was the White Knight, no longer in the monster's grasp, with small wisps of clouds around him. The Pyredaemos roared and got ready to fight Leonard.

"This is…unexpected indeed..." the old man said. Cyrus, a group of three guards, and Yulie came running in through what was left of the vault door, stopping only at the shocking sight before them.

"Sir Cyrus, look!" one of the guards said.

"It can't be! Impossible! Wh-why is it moving?" Cyrus exclaimed.

"Is that you…Leonard?" Yulie gazed at the Knight. A blue light formed in the Knight's hand and materialized into a sword as he made a motion of pulling a sword from a sheath. He started to a fight with the Pyredaemos. He slashed at its head, and the Pyredaemos shoved its head into Leonard's torso pushing him back a bit. After a few minutes, the Pyredaemos roared forcing Leonard. The castle started to rumble even more.

"**Fighting's too risky here. Change of plans!**" Leonard punched then lifted up the Pyredaemos and jumped right through the ceiling. I took off running as fast as I could. The first thing I saw when I got there was the monster charging the Knight then Leonard punched it outside into the courtyard.

"**Whoa…Did I just do that?**" Leonard muttered while looking at his hands.

I strode over to him and knocked the armor. He looked down at me surprised but I didn't care about that. I gestured for him to stop thinking and go after the monster He got my point then ran outside, I followed behind him as the rest of the group finally arrived on the scene.

After one final slash, the Pyredaemos finally dropped dead.

"The lad did it…" the old man muttered, astonished at the fact that some random youth had managed to do that all. Leonard knelt down on one knee as multi colored threads of light swirled around and enveloped him. He reverted back to human form, unharmed, but looking worn out and was gasping.

"It's over?" Leonard looked at his hands again, confusion and disbelief evident in his voice. "But how did I…where did I…?"

Behind us we all heard Cisna scream. There was the man in black armor and the short person from the evil circus holding Cisna captive. Something black dropped from above making a loud boom and a lot of dust swirl around. The three got on, what was now reconized as, a metal anchor and began to rise into a ship above us. Leonard and me ran toward the anchor.

"Princess!" Leonard yelled.

"Cisna!" I screamed.

"Leonard, Sakura!" she called.

"Cisna!"

We could do nothing as we watched the monoship fly away with Cisna on it, to the north. There was only a few other times I had felt so helpless, this was one of the worst I ever felt.

Damn.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Me: Whew! Finished.<strong>**

****If your looking for me to say something, don't expect anything.****

**R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Full sum****mary:**

**"If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary.**

**Sakura is appears as a normal 18 year old girl to everybody but she has many secrets as everyone sets out to rescue Cisna who was kidnapped by the Magi. Secrets that could put everyone with her at risk...**

**~x~X~x~**

***Disclaimer: ****I do not own White Knight Chronicles.*******

* * *

><p><em>Behind us we all heard Cisna scream. There was the man in black armor and the short person from the evil circus holding Cisna captive. Something black dropped from above making a loud boom and a lot of dust swirl around. The three got on, what was now reconized as, a metal anchor and began to rise into a ship above us. Leonard and me ran toward the anchor.<em>

_"Princess!" Leonard yelled._

_"Cisna!" I screamed._

_"Leonard, Sakura!" she called._

_"Cisna!"_

_We could do nothing as we watched the monoship fly away with Cisna on it, to the north. There was only a few other times I had felt so helpless, this was one of the worst I ever felt._

_Damn._

~x~X~x~

_On that day, souls once parted came together again. It seemed like mere coincidence...But softly, sadly, the wheels of a cruel destiny had already begun to turn._

_-Journal entry in Sakura's diary_

**~Hours later, now in the ballroom~**

Everyone was in the ballroom standing by themselves, sadness filled the room. We were all affected by our inability to rescue Cisna though I was pretty sure me and Leonard were taking this the worst. I stood off to the side leaning against a pillar thinking about my own failure to protect my friend.

Cyrus fell to his knees as he stared at the coffin covered with a red banner that held the king. "It cannot be! The king cannot be dead!"

Cyrus slammed his fist on the floor. Sarvain knelt beside him. "Sir Cyrus, I share your pain but we must accept this. Sadly, we are the only ones who can hold this kingdom together. Think of Balandor."

"Sarvain, you do not share my pain." he snarled furiously through gritted teeth. "The king was like a father to me. He cared for me since I was a child. There is no Balandor without King Valtos."

"Ours was not the only leader lost. Do not forget, Sir, that Archduke Dalam of Faria is also dead. It is very likely that Faria will hold Balandor accountable for the archduke's murder. Presumably their governing council is still dominated by the War Faction, we must prepare the city for an almost certain invasion. Though it pains me greatly to say it, we have no time for grief."

I narrowed my eyes at Sarvain, he didn't seem as if he cared about the death of the king at all. Did he know this would happen? I was a possibility...

"For now, we have two priorities: rescue Princess Cisna and restore the kingdom. Put your sadness aside and remember your duty as captain of the Castleguard comes before your personal emotions."

Did this guy have any heart whatsoever? Cyrus just lost his only father figure a few hours ago and this man wanted him to get over it so fast, could've sworn he was made of stone. Hell, maybe he was. Never did like the man myself anyways. Always so suspicious...

Sarvain turned to look at Leonard who was sitting on the few steps that lead up to the coffins. "As for the boy—Leonard if I'm not mistaken? You hold the Knight's Ark and know how to control its power. That means you have made a pact with the Knight."

"Me? A pact?" Leonard looked up confused as he heard this last part.

"It is said that the Knight is a weapon of war crafted long, long ago by our predecessors, the Ancients. It was given to our predecessors, the Ancients. In their writings, they referred to it as the Incorruptus. When the great Cataclysm seventeen years ago opened the ground, long buried ruins were uncovered. Among them was the temple in which the Knight was found. We recovered it, and brought it here to the treasure vault." Sarvain explained.

"The king's scholars and scientists spent years studying the artifact, but for all their poking and prodding, they were never able to unlock its secrets. What we learned was that only people the Knight deems worthy have the right to wield its power: these are the Knight's Pactmakers. The ancient book would tell us no more than that..."

"Sarvain, he's just a boy," Cyrus argued, cutting into the explanation.

"Hey...Don't ask me how I unlocked it. I just did."

Sarvain walked towards Leonard and spoke in a seemingly softer tone. "Then the Knight has chosen you, lad, and there must be a reason. But that is a question for a later time, I'm afraid. Right now, I have a far more important task to set before you. You must hurry after the Princess at once, and use the Knight's power to rescue her from her captors."

"Hmm?" Leonard looked at Sarvain in either surprise, disbelief, or both.

"Are you mad?" Cyrus took a step forward.

"Just a darned minute!" Yulie snapped angrily. "Leonard isn't part of the royal army. Why send him?"

"The circumstances demand it. The villains who attacked us are a part of the group who worship the Ancients. We call them the Magi, because it's their ancient magic they use to summon forth their vicious beasts. They are powerful, but not powerful enough to stand against your Knight!"

"So what? Solve your own problems!" Yulie snarled, getting in his face.

"Pardon?"

"Yulie, it's okay. I'll do it," Leonard said deciding to join in.

"What? But—"

Leonard interrupted her and stood up. "She needs me. If I can help…" Leonard clenched his hand into a fist. "I want to."

"I am glad. Your kingdom will be grateful." Sarvain said.

"Then it's settled, is it?" the man said. Everyone looked at him in some degree of surprise. "We'd best hurry. The longer we tarry here, the further away they'll get."

"And you are…?" Sarvain asked.

"The name's Eldore…just a humble traveler," he replied. "but I can swing a sword and cast the odd spell or two. I'd wager I could be of help. Surely you weren't going to send him in alone?"

"Then allow me to join you!" Cyrus insisted stubbornly.

"No, impossible." Sarvain said, rebuking him.

I growled and narrowed my eyes. Did Cyrus really doubt us that much? It be easier on me to kill them both right now, but that wouldn't do any good. Not to mention add to the already high panic of the people.

"Your place is in the capital. I will need you and your men to help control the populace. People are frightened; with both the King and the Princess gone, you must be there to reassure them."

"And leave it to strangers to decide the Princess's fate?" Cyrus kept up his argument.

...The hell? Strangers? I stared at his neck. It wouldn't be too hard to just slice his jugular, or snap his bones... NO! I shook my head to rid myself of morbid thoughts. Though I didn't care for Sarvain, Cyrus was almost like a brother! ...Sort of.

"Whatever must be done. War with the Magi began the moment they beset the castle. Sir Cyrus, we must prepare to defend the realm!"

Cyrus seemed to lose his will to continue but looked as though he wanted to and said nothing more.

"We'll leave on the morrow. Tonight we rest in town." Eldore said.

~x~X~x~

A blue feathered owl with large elf like ears flew toward us and landed on Eldore's arm. "I sent out one of these bigelows to follow the Princess. As we journey, it'll keep us informed of exactly where she is, always..."

Leonard looked surprised that the bird could do such a thing. "The bird will find the Princess for us?" he asked confused.

Yulie came up and started to explain to poor, confused Leonard. "Two birds, Leonard. A pair of bigelows can communicate speech and images over long distances."

"That's some trick."

Eldore lifted his arm and let the bird fly away, "It appears that the Princess has been taken east toward the Nordia Tunnels. We must follow her there. But first, we should avail ourselves of the town's shops and prepare for the journey. It's going to be a long one."

I hung back and watched as they started walking off together. I didn't need to shop, all I required was my bag. Taking a last look at them, I set a course for Rapacci Wines.

When I reached the establishment I noticed that Leonard and them weren't here yet. The window of the room I was staying in was wide open, drawing a smirk onto my face. I looked around before setting a goal on getting through that window without any attraction.

I landed neatly on my feet on solid floorboards. All it took to get up her was a simple jump while no one was looking. I scoured the room until I found my bag. I threw it over my shoulder and put one leg through the window, but paused when I heard Rapacci's voice drift up from upstairs. Sounds like they decided to come here first. I shrugged and pulled my other leg through the window pane.

I arrived at the gate that we were supposed to leave from a lot earlier than the others. Setting the backpack down, I fell backwards onto the grass and stared up at the clouds. All this free time began leading to thinking.

Cisna. I seriously thought after I met her the first time I'd having a pretty damn low chance of ever encountering her again. When I was younger Mother had brought me to this town, straight to the castle. I met King Valtos who said I could call him father if I wished. While they had been talking I saw this young girl that looked a lot like me. In the end I ended up calling her sister.

We didn't stay for too long and left shortly after. About 2 months later, Mother died. And now that I think about it I was pretty sure that was Cisna I saw in that vision, when she got run through. Hmm, strange.

Another thing was Leonard. If I remembered correctly the villagers had busted me up good that time, breaking tons of bones, forcing me to stay in bed. When I awoke I was in Balandor. He and Rapacci found me and took me in for a few days, a kind act they decided to do. After a while I picked up on the fact that I'd have to leave pretty soon. On the exploration Leonard took me out on I told him I was going to have to leave. You know what happened after that. When I awoke I was in me bed, gripping the necklace that mysteriously appeared in my hand, all healed. I had got up out of bed and drew the boy's face best I could to remember him by.

What with all of these things from my past popping all of a sudden? And on my birthday to boot!

What the hell?

I silently seethed about my situation. I hoped to god nothing else would show up. That wouldn't be good. Nope not at all.

Out of the corner of my perpetual vision, I saw them. Well it was about time they finished their little shopping trip. Yulie came up to me first. "Hi Sakura how long have you been waiting."

I merely gave her a blank stare for an answer. It seemed to unnerve her as she backed away, sweatdropping. "Okay... You don't have to tell me."

I merely nodded before standing up, taking my bag in the process, and walked through the gate.

~x~X~x~

Eldore stopped walking, moments after stepping out onto Greydall Plain, leading Leonard to walk into him. "The Nordia Tunnels lie eastward, beyond this plain.

Leonard looked down. "Princess Cisna... We have to save her. We have to."

Yulie was walking around a little, hand blocking out the sun. "Eldore, you don't think they would have attacked the village do you, do you?"

"Who knows? Whatever the case we have to press on."

They, after that, were forced to fight different monsters that kept appearing. Sakura, without showing it, was all too happy to cut them down. Eldore commented at one point that 'We're wasting strength!' and 'Move your legs, not your mouth!'

"Have you guys heard of the Great Beast of Greydall plain?" She asked the group in general, they had just bested two trolls that had chanced upon them.

"The great _what_?" Leonard asked in confusion.

"The Great Beast, a massive creature that supposedly only reveals itself when you plant a specific flower at each of the three ancient gravestones that are scattered over the plain." Yulie explained mysteriously.

"You're kidding." Was it just me or was Leonard beginning to sound excited?

"Let's not start jumping at legends." Eldore cut in.

While Yulie looked around for a new subject to speak about, Sakura stared straight ahead. She didn't need this right now. She had more important things to think about. Take the bad feeling in her gut, for example, that kept growing. A beast was coming. A big one. She sighed. Dang, there always had to be something.

They had been making good time when the startled squawks of a flock of birds taking flight towards the horizon stopped them in their tracks.

As the noise quietened down, they looked around cautiously as the silence became deafening. The rocks made a clattering sound as they started tumbling down the nearby cliff face, alerting them to the presence on the ledge above them.

"Look!" Yulie pointed at the cliffs. "Something's moving over there!"

"So they're trying to stall us." Leonard said as his hand went to the sword on his waist as he gazed up at the giant white furred beast with massive tusks, thick as an average man sticking out from its lower jaw.

"No, that's a wild beast...and the servant of no man." Eldore explained. "That is the lord of Greydall Plain. "

"Well, I don't like the way he's looking back." Yulie put in, getting a bad feeling as the beast gave an ear splitting roar.

"Somehow I don't think he wants a belly rub!" Leonard agreed, finally pulling his sword out.

_'Well we could when it eats us all.'_ Sakura thought as she heard Leonard's choice of words.

The Ahwahnee landed hard on its paws, after jumping, before charging towards them at a surprisingly fast speed causing them to leap out of the way.

"Sorry, but you're gonna have to let us by!" Leonard declared as he called forth his Ark.

~x~X~x~

"What a brute." Leonard stated as he stared at the unconscious beast. They had managed to knock it unconscious after some work.

"I'll say." Yulie muttered, walking up.

"Indeed." Eldore said. "But these beasts do not attack humans without provocation."

Eldore pondered for a moment. "Though I don't like to think it, it may be that they are responding to the Knight's awakening."

The others looked at Eldore in disbelief.

"So what are you saying, the Knight's power makes them go on the rampage?" Yulie asked.

Was he saying that the Knight's power can make docile beasts go berserk? Whilst true that animals could sense danger faster than humans, there was no way that the power a Knight possessed could simply stir such thoughts in them. Or could they sense a hidden darkness not even the greatest of Seers could see?

"It could be."

"Then...this fella wasn't really a bad guy?" Leonard asked, sounding sorry, and somewhat responsible for what had taken over the beast. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry..."

As they walked off down the path towards the Nordia Tunnels, Sakura remained behind and took one last glance at the unconscious Ahwahnee.

_'Already, this is sign of bad things to come.'_ She mused before following them.

~x~X~x~

I stared in boredom at the giant cave entrance that looked as if it was ready to swallow us up. Leonard took a few steps forward. "This must be the way in. Look how big!"

"People whisper about the Nordia Tunnels, but I'm about to walk through them!" Yulie said.

"Come on, let's go!" Leonard said enthusiastically apparently the only one who had yet to feel the weariness of the day's journey. He had not made a step towards the entrance when Eldore's hand came down on his shoulder stopping him.

"Wait. Before we go in, we should camp here and rest our bones a while." He advised.

"I don't need any rest!" Leonard said, impatient. "Come on!"

"Don't be a fool." Eldore snapped. "When I'm tired, my magic grows weak. You think we can get through without my spells?"

"Huh?"

"The man's got a point, Leonard." Yulie agreed.

"Fine." Leonard sighed heavily, giving in to their request.

It was not long after the moon had risen that the group could hear the chirping and see the form of the blue bigelow swooping down towards where they were gathered around the campfire. After perching on his arm and having what apparently looked like a mental communication with it, Eldore turned to the us.

"It seems we have established a connection with Princess Cisna." He told them. "Foz, show us."

The blue bigelow hopped off his arm and glided down onto the ground a few feet away then turned to stare at them. The bird's eyes glowed green before an intangible picture of Princess Cisna could be seen standing with her back to them.

"Princess!" Leonard whispered just loud enough so that the image of the Princess looked round in surprise until she saw they assumed was the bigelow bird that was with her. She then seemed to recognize the voice. "Huh? Hello?" She turned. "A bigelow! Then someone out there must be able to see me."

"You're safe they didn't hurt you."

"Leonard... Is that you? Yes, yes I'm safe. They have me locked in this room, but other than that..." Her voice seemed to waver before she moved onto more important issues. "Please, tell me, how are my people?"

"They are in good hands. Everyone is preparing for Your Highness' return." Eldore assured the image. "We have been sent ahead to rescue you. Worry not."

"I see..."

"Princess, where are you?" Leonard asked. "Can you tell us about your surroundings?"

"Well..." The Princess moved so that it looked like she was gazing out of a nearby window before turning back to the bigelow. "I see sand, endless golden sand. I think we must be flying over a desert."

"A desert...? The Lagnish Desert?" Eldore pondered.

The next second, the Princess spun round suddenly as if hearing something, saying, "Someone's coming-" before the image of her disappeared. Leonard reached out as if he could stop it. "Wait, Princess!"

~x~X~x~

"Alright. If they're in the desert, there's only one place they could be heading." Eldore explained to the others as they gathered round a map he had of the continent spread out over one of the abandoned barrels near the Tunnels entrance. "The town of Albana. I've heard that the Cataclysm unearthed some ancient ruins near there. Perhaps that's what they're after?"

The Cataclysm? Was he referring to that day seventeen years ago when a enormous earthquake shook the whole continent, later revealing ancient the ruins at what was now known as the Dogma Rift?

"If we're going to Albana, we'll have to pass through the Tunnels then cross the Lagnish Desert." Yulie concluded.

"Indeed." I was beginning to think that, that was his favorite word. "But tonight, we sleep. We'll enter the tunnels first thing tomorrow. Good night."

The others took the hint and retired to their makeshift quarters for the night. Although Leonard, Yulie and Eldore went to their tents to sleep, Sakura however went and sat down in front of the campfire. Leonard paused before entering his set up tent. She watched him stare up into the starry night sky and whisper, "Be safe."

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R<strong>


	5. VERY IMPORTANT!

**Sorry this is not a chapter my amazing fans (you know I love you right?), but this is very important for the FF community to hear.**

**So, today I heard about trying to get rid of some stories because of sexual themes, violence, or if it is based off by a song and I was so shocked my mouth dropped open and it ruined my day. There are Ratings on the writing for a REASON and now they are just getting rid of ALL stories. Why not put something up where you have to have an account to read certain fics or even an age limit on the M rated.**

**If any of you have read my story Twisted Fates, you can see that there is violence in it. In the video game world it is common for violence and bad language (rated T and up). My story (and account) could probably be taken down because of what FF is doing, and so will thousands of other AMAZING and well thought out stories.**

**I know that many love FF as I do, so it's time to speak against what they are doing. Sign the petition in the URL below, ever signature counts.**

**Thank you!**

_**Sign: petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of- fanfiction-net**_

**P.S. I read some of the reasons why people signed up, a few good ones I thought were from Kara Bularzik, Therese Dunning, Kalissia Mitchell, Angel Willis, Tori Winget, and Olivia P. You should search up those.**

**"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."****  
><strong>**- Mark Twain**


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